Tom Brady sparked plastic surgery rumors this weekend while commentating for the Super Bowl after fans noticed his svelte face.
During his spot at the Super Bowl, fans said the 47-year-old football legend looked like a ‘skeleton’, with his face ‘all the way pulled back.’
The seven-time championship quarterback has long been the subject of nip and tuck rumors, but plastic surgeons told DailyMail.com from looking at the Super Bowl footage that Brady’s face seems more tight and youthful.
Some suggested his ‘stretched and lifted’ skin could be a sign that he had a face lift within the last three months, as the skin still looks ‘very tight’ and tense.
They also said Brady ‘almost certainly’ has used Botox, which freezes muscles to help reduce wrinkles, and laser skin resurfacing, which removes damaged layers of skin to make skin appear smoother and more even.
Other experts, however, said it’s ‘unlikely’ Brady went under the knife and instead touted his famously strict diet and exercise routine for his gradually thinning face.
They said because Brady is now retired, he may have shifted his workout regimen to focus less on bulking up and more on staying trim.
Normal aging could also be at play, they speculated, and they rejected rumors about Brady having fat removed from his cheeks.
Tom Brady, pictured here at the Super Bowl last weekend, sparked plastic surgery rumors for his gaunt face
DailyMail.com reached out to Brady’s representatives for comment.
Dr Corey Maas, plastic surgeon and owner of The Maas Clinic in San Francisco, told DailyMail.com: ‘This is the classic face of somebody that’s on a very high intensity aerobic exercise program.
‘It doesn’t have to be any kind of surgery. In fact, it would be unlikely because most people don’t want that gaunt of a look.’
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By contrast, Dr Tijion Esho, cosmetic surgeon and founder of Cultskin in the UK, told DailyMail.com Brady’s skin looked ‘stretched and lifted.’
He added: ‘This is typically seen after a full face lift which is still in the process of healing.’
A face lift, also called a rhytidectomy, involves pulling back a flap of skin on each side of the face to reduce sagging and tighten skin.
There are several types of face lifts, but a traditional one involves separating skin from its underlying tissues and tightening the muscles around the face and neck. The surgeon also removes excess skin.
The procedure generally takes about three to six hours, according to the Mayo Clinic.
About 131,000 Americans get a face lift every year. It runs about $11,000 but can go up to $30,000.
Dr Esho suggested if Brady had a face lift, it was likely performed late last year.
He said: ‘In the early stages [of recovery], the skin looks very tight, and as the skin hels, the tension eases, which typically is seen over the first two to three months.’
Dr Norman Rowe, a plastic surgeon at Rowe Plastic Surgery in New Jersey, told DailyMail.com that Brady shows ‘tell-tale’ signs of having a face lift, such as a possible incision scar near his ear.
Some plastic surgeons said Brady had scarring near his ear (pictured at right) indicative of a face lift Brady is pictured at left in 2022 and at right during the Super Bowl last Sunday
He specially speculates Brady had a superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS) facelift, which involves making an incision along the hairline, behind the ears, and under the chin and repositioning connective tissue under the skin.
Dr Rowe said: ‘That ear looks like it’s been operated on.’
‘When you do a SMAS face lift, it sometimes gives a pull on the corners of the mouth, and [patients] get what we call a windswept look. In a couple pictures, boy, it looked like he had that,’ he added.
However, he rejected the idea that Brady’s potential face lift was performed recently due to a lack of swelling and prominent scarring. He suggested it may have been done at least six months ago.
Dr Esho also pointed to Brady’s ‘shiny’ skin, which he believes could be due to Botox and laser resurfacing treatments.
Botox uses a toxin to paralyze a muscle beneath the skin, meaning that it doesn’t move and causes wrinkles to deepen in the skin.
It generally lasts three to four months and costs around $180 to $750 per session.
In laser skin resurfacing, surgeons use a beam to destroy the outer layer of skin and heat the underlying later.
This is said to stimulate the growth of collagen, a protein that improves skin firmness and texture, and leads skin to become smoother and tighter as it heals and regrows.
It costs around $400 to $500 per procedure.
Dr Esho said: ‘This would explain why his skin appears smooth, with fewer expression lines.’
Plastic surgeons told DailyMail.com that Brady (pictured at left in 2022 and at right this past weekend) may have also had Botox and fillers
Tom Brady is pictured here in a portrait taken last year, shortly after retiring from football after seven Super Bowl wins
Dr Diana Ponsky, a plastic surgeon in Ohio, agreed that Brady may have opted for Botox.
She told DailyMail.com: ‘It seems as if his lipline has been altered. He has a stretched smile, and his lower lip curls up more.’
She said this suggests he may have had Botox injected into his depressor anguli oris (DAO) muscles, which run from the lower jaw to the corners of the mouth.
Dr Maas told this website Brady may have had Botox due to a lack of smile lines, or lines at the corner of the eyes when he smiles, though it’s subtle.
Dr David Shokrian, plastic surgeon at Millennial Plastic Surgery in New York City, told DailyMail.com Brady’s ‘super smooth’ forehead is a sign of ‘classic Botox.’
Dr Ponsky also speculates that Brady may have had fillers. ‘If you look at his temples, it looks like he hollowed out, which suggests he most likely had fillers,’ she said.
Fillers are soft, gel-like substances that are injected under the skin to restore lost volume, smooth out wrinkles and/or enhance facial contours.
They are generally made from natural or synthetic substances, the most common being hyaluronic acid — a naturally occurring substance found in the skin.
Once injected, they generally last six to eight months and cost around $500 to $1,200 per syringe.
Dr Shokrian said: ‘He might have had fillers dissolved, or he’s lost natural facial fat, which makes his features look leaner and more defined.’
Dr Maas, however, pushed back on the idea that fillers were involved. He said: ‘The gaunt look is like the antithesis of fillers.
‘In a lot of ways, Tom Brady would be a good candidate for some facial volume fillers so that he didn’t look so gaunt.’
Dr Maas suggested Brady’s age and intense fitness regimen may have lead to a leaner face over time, especially now that he has retired and likely not as focused on bulking up.
He said: ‘For a 40-year-old plus person that’s in good shape, they just get really gaunt. The face is the first place to lose fat, and it’s also the first place to gain fat when we start getting heavier.
‘He doesn’t need to be bulked up anymore, so he’s gone the other way. He’s become very, very thin.’
